Every time she and Isa accomplished something outstanding, her grandmother would show that kind of smile.
'Tsk… could it be that the beautiful sea dragon lady is still immersed in the queen mother role from the earlier rehearsal and hasn't snapped out of it yet?'
After chatting for a while about child-rearing topics, Claudia extended the conversation to… gossip.
"In dragonkind, live-bearing families aren't very common. Even Helena was born from a cocoon. So, I'd like to ask, how did you two get together back then?"
Upon hearing this, the couple both froze.
They looked at each other, and in each other's eyes, they saw the same question:
'Why do you people all like to ask this kind of gossip question?'
'We just got married, it's not like we violated heavenly laws.'
Goodness, everyone who comes along wants to ask, ["How did you get together?"]
Of course, for most dragon couples, such a question isn't a big deal, just answer it normally.
But the problem is this:
Leon and Rosweisse are not your average dragon couple.
So every time someone asked about their love story, they had to come up with a logically consistent and realistic tale.
"Ah, well… it's a long story. After Leon's tribe disbanded back then, he came to my Silver Dragon tribe, and the two of us… fell in love at first sight," After thinking it over, Rosweisse decided to use the oldest version of the story.
"Mm, yes, it was love at first sight," General Leon also followed up from the side.
Love at first sight really is a great excuse to avoid gossip.
Why do you like each other?
Answer: Love at first sight.
When did you realize you had feelings for each other?
Answer: Love at first sight.
What event made you decide to be with each other?
Answer: Love at first sight.
—OK, you win, kid.
"Wow, that's pretty romantic," Claudia said with a hint of longing, "Too bad I'm like most traditional dragons, a lifelong single. I've never tasted the flavor of love."
'That flavor of love is best left untasted. You have no idea how much that dragoness tormented me during pregnancy…', Leon silently griped in his heart.
And then Claudia quickly followed up, "But my little sister fell in love with someone."
Leon raised an eyebrow, curious, and asked, "I heard from Helena earlier that she has an aunt. That should be your sister, right?"
Claudia nodded, "That's right."
"She fell in love with someone, and then?"
Claudia chuckled and shrugged, "They got together. But it wasn't love at first sight, it was the old cliché… the hero saves the beauty."
The couple exchanged another look.
'Mmm~ that's the smell of gossip.'
They retracted their rebellious thoughts from just now.
'Gossip is not wrong. Gossip makes sense. Everyone in the world should gossip!'
Seeing the couple's expectant eyes, Claudia smiled slightly.
"Their story is also a long one. It was a long, long time ago. My sister got into danger, and then a powerful man saved her, and then they… got married."
Leon & the Queen: ?
'Sis, your so-called "long story" doesn't even add up to fifty words. Where's the "long" part?'
'We want details — details!'
'Didn't your math teacher in school ever tell you, if you only write the answer and not the steps, you get no points?'
'Also, this is like when you're reading a romance novel, and the male and female leads are kissing and touching, and the "fusion" moment is about to happen…'
And then all the juicy, spicy scenes that follow are just replaced with ellipses, wouldn't you leave a comment like, "I've already taken my pants off, and this is what you're showing me?" in the complaints section?
"Hmm? What's wrong? Oh, the detailed process, is it?", Claudia covered her mouth and giggled, "The detailed process… I'm not really sure either. But anyway, my sister and her partner are very much in love."
A simple yet beautiful love story.
Short, sure, but hey, gossip is gossip, not a loss.
But then Claudia changed the topic with a twist,
"However… my family, even including me, didn't really agree with my sister's marriage. But we couldn't change her mind, so we just turned a blind eye," As she finished speaking, the children returned.
Everyone then began the afternoon rehearsal.
But Leon's thoughts were still lingering on the earlier conversation.
Although he had heard some gossip about her family from the mysterious beauty Claudia, Leon still felt something wasn't quite right.
Claudia wasn't usually very talkative, so why did she take the initiative to bring up her family matters today?
It was like… she was deliberately saying it for Leon and Rosweisse to hear.
———
A few days later, in the student auditorium of St. Heath Academy, the drama performance competition for the Hatchling Division officially began.
Director Noah's group had pretty good luck and was scheduled to appear near the end.
The reason this was considered good luck was because the later in the performance order, the stronger the impression left on the school leadership and judges, which had a big impact on the final score.
The first two groups performed very well.
The scripts were solid, the structure coherent, and each time the plot hit a climax, the audience erupted into continuous applause.
This put a lot of pressure on Noah.
To be honest, this drama competition was a completely new field for her.
In the past, whether it was regular academic subjects or practical combat competitions, she could always rely on her talent and top student buff to outshine everyone by a huge margin.
But drama was different.
Besides the fact that it was an unfamiliar type of competition, there was another reason Noah felt uneasy, and that was that in a competition like this, if you wanted good results, you couldn't rely on just yourself.
Her uneasiness wasn't because she was afraid the actors in her little troupe would perform poorly.
She was afraid that after everyone had worked so hard for so long, they still wouldn't get the results they hoped for.
Noah had never feared failure. All along, any failures she experienced were her own and helped her grow stronger.
But this time, as the director, she had arranged and managed all the rehearsals. The final outcome was directly related to her.
If the results weren't good, then dad, mom, her sisters, Helena, and Aunt Claudia… wouldn't they have wasted all their time and energy?
In fact, Noah had been worrying about this for days.
It was also her first time feeling the pressure of being a "leader."
Noah didn't go to Helena to talk about this anxiety, because she knew it would only cause the pressure to spread through the team and wouldn't have any positive effect.
The third group's performance was nearing its end, and it was almost time for Noah's group to take the stage.
The little dragon girl stood backstage, watching the wonderful performance on stage, her expression a bit heavy.
"Everyone's really amazing…", Noah murmured.
"Noah," A familiar voice came from behind.
Noah quickly collected herself, turned around, and smiled in greeting, "Daddy."
Leon had already changed into his costume for the first scene:
Tattered armor, bloodstained wig, and a broken holy sword.
The battle-damaged makeup on his face was incredibly lifelike.
("Father, you're truly the chosen one for playing a prisoner role",) Aurora once commented.
Leon walked up to Noah and crouched down to her eye level.
"Watching the other performances?", Leon asked.
"Mm, you taught me. Before battle begins, observe your opponents as much as possible. Know yourself and your enemy, and you'll never lose," Noah answered seriously.
Leon chuckled and reached out to pat Noah's little head, "Drama isn't the battlefield. Don't be so tense, Noah."
"Yes, Daddy."
Her tone was still serious and solemn.
Leon lowered his eyes and saw that she was still secretly clutching her skirt hem, her little tail drooping to the ground, listless.
'So… she's still nervous,' Leon thought.
"Don't worry. Once we're on stage, Mom, your sisters, and I will definitely do our best in the performance. We won't let you down, Director Noah," Leon tried to comfort her.
He thought Noah was nervous because she was worried they wouldn't perform up to their usual rehearsal standards, resulting in a poor score. That's why he said that.
But Noah's reaction seemed to reject Leon's guess.
"Mm… it's okay, Daddy, just do your best."
Leon paused.
'Wait a second, sweet daughter, wasn't I the one supposed to be easing your nerves?'
'How come you're the one saying, "It's okay, just do your best" now?'
Leon opened his mouth, about to say something to follow up and comfort her. But then he paused, his clever, perfectionist daughter wasn't like other kids.
She had been through many competitions and battles, even backstabbed a Dragon King-level opponent (twice), there's no way a little drama performance would shake her like this.
And Leon had seen what she looked like when she truly desired a championship or first place, full of fighting spirit and confidence.
Completely different from this downcast look now.
'So… she's not worried about us performing badly…'
Leon's thoughts shifted. He tried to read his daughter's emotions.
At the same time, the group on stage was again met with applause from the audience and judges.
Hearing it, Noah turned her head to look at the stage and unconsciously gripped her skirt tighter.
And behind the stage, on the other side of the curtain, was the opposing group's little director.
Seeing the actors in their group win rounds of applause, that little director was also overjoyed.
Noah's gaze fell on the other child and couldn't move away.
Leon caught this small movement from Noah.
He blinked, and immediately understood Noah's true concern.
"Being a director, that's a lot of pressure, huh?", Leon asked.
Noah's small figure trembled slightly, but she didn't turn around, "Ah… it's… it's fine."
"If I remember correctly, this should be your first time directing so many people to complete something together, right?"
Noah pursed her lips, hesitated a bit, then nodded, "Right."
Leon pondered for a moment, chose his words, and then said, "Want to hear a story from when your dad led troops into battle?"
Noah raised her eyebrows, her heavy thoughts were pulled back to the story Leon mentioned, "Okay."
"Back then, your dad's tribe hadn't disbanded yet. I was one of the top front-line commanders."
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